What Love Means for Your Sign (August 2018 Horoscopes)

Welcome to your August 2018 Horoscopes!

It’s LEO SEASON, so no surprise, we are talking about love.

Don’t get me wrong, as I’ve said before, this ain’t no rom-com. Love is so much more than the hetero-patriarchUGHL-gendernormy-ableist-colonial cesspool of gross we get shoved down our throats on the regular. Love is romance with people, nature, music, and your own skin. Love is friendship, chosen family, making amends and reunion with your ancestors and blood lineage. Love is purpose. Love is the work. Love is getting what’s yours and never having to say you’re sorry.

Love is commitment to yourself.
Love is grieving.
Love is taking no shit from no bitch and demanding self-respect.
Love is warmth with your closest, because the world is scary enough.
Love is celebrating life. Not in spite of death, but because we understand it. Because we are still here.
Love is believing in long-term stability; believing we can live on more than just never ending survival-mode.
Love is ending things when necessary. Starting a new contract with yourself and your relationships, when necessary.
Love is letting people change. Letting yourself change.
Love is empowerment. The kind that nobody give to you but yourself, and nobody can take away from you either.
Love is a well of forgiveness that you always keep filled in case you need it. Because you do.
Love is birthing your genius. It is co-creation with the Universe.
Love is closure and reconnection, all at once.

The zodiac signs have way more to say, so check out your in-depth horoscope video and love letter below. Read/watch for your Sun/Moon/Rising.

And if you really wanna nerd out on astrology (cuz, why wouldn’t you?) I have a specialty package on Astrology & Dating available that I am super excited about! This is a 3-part video series (all captioned), a crash-course on how to use astrology to better understand our relationship and attachment styles, intimacy wounds, and invite more love into our daily lives. Click to find out more.

ARIESLove is Commitment

Dear Aries,

Right now you are strong in spirit. You have a certainty of purpose. What you want and how to go about getting it is incredibly clear, shiny and magical when you’re alone with yourself. Then as soon as you take steps to make it tangible and real, put yourself out there, and interact with other people’s conflicting desires and actions – that’s when the doubt creeps in. Here you may be questioning yourself, feeling confused by other people’s opinions and beliefs, and caving into externalized or internalized pressure. This month’s Mercury Retrograde may even be showing up as a plethora of voices that aren’t your own flying around your mind and instilling uncertainty into things you thought you were sure of just a minute ago. Dear Aries, this is just a test of your commitment to yourself. When you think of it that way, it hardly has any power over you. What you know and trust in yourself is not a lie, and it’s not wrong. Doubt is a natural and inevitable part of choosing not to keep yourself hidden. The presence of doubt doesn’t mean you should change your plans, or what you want. Don’t re-arrange who you are for the sake of doubt. Commit to the light in your core, growing brighter each day.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

TAURUSLove is Grieving

Dear Taurus,

There’s always a body of running water somewhere in the background, isn’t there? Wherever you are, it’s never too far behind. Whatever successes or mishaps, water’s always chasing you. Sometimes urgently, sometimes it’s just a whisper. Catches up to you eventually though, rhythmically flooding your home and your heart. Jarring and unexpected, even when you’re expecting it. Especially for Taurus who is quite content grazing peacefully underneath the sun. Call it the pull of Scorpio, the underworld, sitting directly across from you in the zodiac – seems far away but its waters are magnetic, cathartic and deadly. Call it the role that grief plays in our lives. The answer to what you’re struggling with today lies in what came before. There’s something in your past that wants nurturance and attention; something that you haven’t yet fully grieved. Spend some time with the ocean in your backyard. Even if the feelings are painful, they need to move. This releases you to find flow, ease, and clarity with whatever has been confusing and heavy. Feeling your heart, full of pain, full of longing, full of hope, is always an expression of healing; always an expression of love.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

GEMINILove is Autonomy

Dear Gemini,

You wouldn’t trade in anything these days for self-sufficiency of spirit. You’ve had to learn the hard way, the difference between fulfilling connection and depleting codependency. You’re the third zodiac sign out of the gate, and the first one to understand the importance of human relationships. You are the sign of the small tight-knit community, the feisty neighbourhood who comes together to create mayhem and magic in the face of Goliath and normativity. But right now you cannot stay connected any longer to imbalanced relationship dynamics, you cannot depend on anyone socially, practically, or financially, especially not if they are abusing you emotionally, spiritually or psychically. Right now, your autonomy is your number #1 love. The twin that lives on earth, she/he/they may be temporarily thrown. (That’s what happens when someone/thing deliberately and wretchedly throws you.) Don’t worry, because the twin that lives in the sky is going strong and hardly affected at all. Their mojo is fierce, steady, assured, and right on time. The earth part of you needs a minute to come down and move slow after a shock, so be gentle and flexible with yourself. Keep your focus on what really matters, continue cutting out unnecessary excess, and let your magic unfold. You are doing just fine.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

CANCERLove is Warmth

Dear Cancer,

To be blunt, you’re over anything and everything shallow. You want emotional and spiritual depth. Your patience for the petty ran dry yesterday. Isn’t there more to life and love than running in circles harshly judging each other, playing the blame-shame-game, lashing out and tearing things down because we’re in pain? The world is scary enough as it is, right now you need your personal relationships to be warm. You need protection, security and comfort that you can count on. You need a safe house and a refuge. You may need to be firm and boundaried against people who have darts in their mouths instead of words. Warmth is understanding that we might not always agree when in relationship with an individual or a group, but even so, we all-ways deserve respect. Warmth is growing into a more nuanced and expansive definition and practice of collective care, of relating, and of holding a strong centre of integrity. You need a break from wading in toxic waters. Focus on the work and practical tasks at hand. Then find your mer-mates who swim where waters are nourishing, creative and transformative. And dive deep, my friend.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

LEOLove is Celebration

Dear Leo,

Never was a better time to celebrate your exuberant pleasure. Never a better time to indulge in your specific nerdy brand of playful and joyful. There’s no denying you are the life of the zodiac party, but there is something quiet and somber you’re carrying at this time as well. In the midst of beginning another cycle around the sun, you cannot deny there has been loss, and it has changed you, completely. You understand what death is, not just in theory, but in experience. You know the things that cannot be spoken, only felt and shared with others who get the specificity of what you’ve been through. Death and loss is a devastating, humbling and sweeping force that also sweeps away the bullshit that took up so much of your time and energy last year. Death has a way of putting you in touch with what really matters, and it gives you permission to let go of the rest. Underneath your celebration there may be somber, but underneath your somber there is gratitude – more genuine and deeply felt than ever before – for the love you get to experience while you’re here. You neither have the luxury nor the curse of taking that gift for granted. We celebrate, not in spite of death, but because of it. We learn the shadow side of life, not to fall into ruin and stay ruined. We love because we are alive. Because we are still here. Happy birthday, dear Leo.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

VIRGOLove is Long-Term Stability

Dear Virgo,

You may be making some tough decisions in the short-term, because you’re focused on playing the long game. Certain things have been precarious for too long – and for too long you’ve gotten used to tolerating their precarity. Maybe it’s continuously moving from place to place, contract to contract, paycheck to paycheck. Maybe it’s never knowing when a friend may show up or cancel last minute. Or it’s dealing with the ambivalence and wishy-washy terms of a relationship. Either way, there’s an energy of bouncing back and forth between low-key panic, then solidifying some kind of short-term stability, and then back to panic again. Something in you is snapping, if it hasn’t already. You’re ready to do whatever you have to do, in order to break this cycle and dig deeper roots. Really what you’re searching for is long-term stability of the heart. You want a home that won’t abandon you. You want to share and express more love – and you need a space wide and strong enough to hold what you have to offer. Don’t pressure yourself to make it happen all at once. But do keep that future vision at the forefront of your mind, it’ll give you hope and grounding as you get the through nitty-gritty details of today.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

LIBRALove is the New Contract

Dear Libra,

You know that thing that’s been quietly yet consistently jabbing you where it hurts? That weird passive aggressive dynamic with a friend or family member, the micro-aggressions or subtle undermining at work. Or relationship dynamics where you’re never completely sure if they’re happy for you when you have good news. There’s a contract that you’re ripping up this month. The one that said you had to swallow the hurt, take whatever people throw at you, and never advocate for yourself because you’re worried people will get upset. You’ve grown out of these old ways of relating, out of imbalanced emotional and spiritual agreements, and now is the time to make this clear and known to others. This might cause a little rumbling here and there, that’s okay, be strong and prepare yourself to let other people have whatever feelings they’ll have. It’ll take a bit for them to adjust to your new terms and boundaries, but those who are really on your side will flow with you. At the end of the day, you’re on a mission. You don’t have time or space for “little” jabs that bring you down, because they’re actually not so little. You are pursuing some kinda incredible work and creativity, some damn deep love that is excitedly loving you back – that’s the contract that really matters.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

SCORPIOLove is Non-Attachment

Dear Scorpio,

I’ve always had a weird relationship to non-attachment. Like, I get it and I don’t get it. Seems like it’s the mature thing to practice in relationships…but as if we can always be ‘enlightened’ and above the feelings enough to let people glide in and out of our lives while maintaining a heart full of grace. Especially for Scorpio, (see, re: the cat claws on everything I’ve ever let go of) love is a deep and dirty beautiful mess. But what about the times you had to leave? What of the moments you desperately needed them to let you go with grace? Because you changed. Because you weren’t safe there. Because your magic needed a bigger sky. And yet they tried to pin you down, call you names, they started the whisper campaign. Now you are asking a different question to others and of yourself, are you so attached to who I used to be that you won’t let me change? Now you understand what true loyalty is, will you still be by my side after I die and come back to life? Love is indeed non-attachment to a static version of reality, a static version of yourself and of those most dear to your heart. Love is embracing the phoenix in you, for it’s the phoenix who frees you be human. The human lifts you into the eagle – who knows how to graciously and lovingly let people come and go – and still soar.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

SAGITTARIUSLove is Empowerment

Dear Sagittarius,

I see you doing your best, putting on a bright, brave face and a strong lending hand to the people and work you care about. At the same time, I see your heart hanging by a few bloody cords, dangling outside of your body. I see the vulnerability in that, and also the resilience. What is it that made your heart feel like it couldn’t stay in your body? Well, of course, it was attached to something that left. Now it’s caught between two worlds. All it remembers is that it made a home for itself somewhere precious that isn’t any longer available. Like the kid of divorced parents – where do I live now? Remember that you do not have to remain disconnected from what you care about, from what is truly yours, just because someone left or an opportunity didn’t work out. Your art, your mind, your passion, your desire, your expression, your contribution: these are not dependent on any external situation or relationship. Love is empowerment. The kind that you reclaim. The kind that nobody else can give to you except you, but nobody can take away from you either. Release yourself from the energetic cords still attached to an old home that has now shifted, and reconnect to what still matters and perseveres. Gather your heart in your palms and put it back in your body. That’s where it belongs.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

CAPRICORNLove is Forgiveness

Dear Capricorn,

Forgiveness – what a loaded word, sheesh! So many of us have a visceral rage reaction to just the solitary word. Forgiveness. Not without good reason. The language of forgiveness has been commonly used as a tool for gaslighting, dismissing and minimizing real violence, as an accountability cop-out, an excuse to evade responsibility, and an emotional manipulation tactic to get others to comfort you when you’re the one who did the harm. For just as good a reason, however, that word is coming up for you this month, asking you to grapple with it and find something for yourself inside of it. Is there a situation from your past that is keeping you tied up, bogged down, and won’t release you from its grip? You have needed to be free of this for some time now. You can keep looking around for a secret key, but there it is staring right at you, patient and available. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you’re okay with everything that happened, it doesn’t mean you let them back into your life (unless you want to), it doesn’t even mean you talk to them at all. But a huge weight drops from your shoulders when you can say to yourself, I forgive the situation. I forgive that this is the way things played out; I got hurt and maybe did some of the hurting too, even if just to myself. I forgive the Universe. True forgiveness isn’t denial or erasure. It is an acceptance of reality. It is love for yourself. It frees you to move, change, rebuild, to hope and believe in something better, from here on out.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

AQUARIUSLove is Creation

Dear Aquarius,

This is a month of re-arranging the focus of your energy. Mars, the planet of desire, action and advocacy is moving in backward motion and talking to you. What about your own desire have you been consistently putting on the back-burner over the last several months? Because you were busy, because you were supporting your family or community, because there was always a reason why you couldn’t put yourself first. This month’s retrograde is allowing you to reach toward something important at the back of your To-Do list and re-prioritize. So you can finally say, I am not going to run further away from what I want. For you, love is not just creativity, it is creation. Creativity is something you explore, creation is something you birth. Instead of caving into the pressure of everything that other people want from you, you are leaning into the sacred pressure of tending to this thing that wants to come to life. Now is the time to prepare the birth canal – metaphorically speaking this just means giving your focus to it. Lay a good foundation, get yourself in a routine to prepare your mind/body/spirit to nourish and support what you are creating. Time is approaching for a community to step in and support you, to advocate for you, uplift your dreams and help you make your desire a reality, just as much as you are prepared to do for them.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

PISCESLove is Closure

Dear Pisces,

If you do anything this month, embrace receptivity. An energy of magic, healing and peace is quietly yet abundantly filling your cup, and you don’t need to do much other than allow it. In a vision, in a dream, I see you packing up a suitcase and leaving an old home. In this dream you get a big goodbye party. You get to embrace everyone who has ever spent time with you here. There are no hard feelings. You get the perfect loving send-off, knowing you can visit whenever you want, knowing this love isn’t really over. It’s just turning into mystical iridescent faery dust, preparing to transform and show up somewhere surprising in your life, in a different shape. In reality, our endings are anything but this clean. In reality, there’s so much that has been left unreconciled, unanswered, like a writer who died before they finished their book. Our endings are a mess, sometimes even brutally violent, and we are rarely on the same page to offer a meaningful and mutual goodbye. Still, dear Pisces, you can have the ending that you needed. You can experience it in your own heart. Your ancestors are offering this gift to you, even if they didn’t get it while they were alive, that’s why it’s so important for you to receive it. Know that you can visit what was lost whenever you want and need to. This space of both closure and reconnection, it’s yours wherever you are, and that’s what love is. It is always here for you — always showing up in surprising places — in ever-expanding, awe-inspiring, multidimensional shapes.

Wanna deep dive into learning about the planets & zodiac sign’s relationship styles, and what that means for you? Check out my crash course video series.

Thank you so heartfilled much – I’m a Sag and this, speaks to me in the deep, constant power of love. I have been struggling since leaving an abusive cis/het relationship in Jan 2017 and today met with a queer friend and sent my first message for connecting. I will write today. “Love is empowerment. The kind that you reclaim. The kind that nobody else can give to you except you, but nobody can take away from you either.” Thank you ❤

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About

Shaunga Tagore is an astrologer, writer, performer and producer based out of Toronto, Ontario. Big thanks to Jenny Chan for the stellar website design, and to Melisse Watson for the spectacular illustration and artwork throughout the site.